Pursuit
by WeirdEmmaline
Summary: It's the end of the line for Jean Valjean. Cosette is barely fourteen when Javert catches up with them again. Now he will do anything for even one more taste of freedom.
1. Chapter 1

"Papa, there's a man following us." Cosette's voice was tiny and concerned as she tugged on her papa's sleeve. At first, her papa ignored the persistent tugging at his sleeve. He had more pressing matters to think of. But as they neared their home he glanced back over his shoulder. "Papa! He's been following us for quite some time now. He looks angry!"

It can't be, he thought as he picked out an all-too-familiar face in the crowd behind them. Just as quickly as he noticed the man, however, he disappeared into the crowd once more.

"This way. Quickly," he said, taking Cosette by the arm and leading her down an alley. They were nearly to the other side when he heard the echoing sound of a single set of footsteps entering the alley behind them.

"Papa—"

Jean sped up, but he knew it was an exercise in futility. Cosette wouldn't be able to run fast enough to escape with him. He couldn't bring her into this. He couldn't ruin her life this way. With great sadness and fear in his heart, he turned to Cosette. Would this be the last time he would see her?

"Cosette, I want you to listen to me carefully and do exactly as I say," he said in a hushed whisper. Cosette turned and looked up at him, her eyes wide and full of fear. She nodded slightly to signify that she understood what he had said so far. "I want you to hurry along home. Stay inside and keep the door locked. I will come as soon as I can."

"But Papa, I'm frightened," Cosette protested. "Don't leave me!"

"Shhh. I will come as soon as I can. If—" Valjean hesitated, cupping the girl's cheek and kissing her forehead. "If I'm not back by sundown tomorrow, I want you to go to our neighbors. Remind them of the agreement they made with me when we arrived."

"But Papa—"

"Do as I tell you, Cosette. I beg of you. We haven't the time to squabble."

Cosette nodded, but Valjean could feel that she was trembling like a leaf. He took her hands in his own and gave them a light squeeze before insisting that she hurry off. Once she was out of the alley and around the corner, he started walking more quickly than he had when Cosette had been with him.

The person tailing him was nearly on top of him now, and he had to fight the urge to take off running. But he couldn't risk Cosette. If he managed to get lost in the crowd before she was safely home, there was no telling whether the man tailing him would try to go after her instead.

"You cannot possibly still think you have any chance of getting away, Valjean." A low, angry growl from behind him. The words echoed down the alley. Jean Valjean could picture in his mind the slight smirk that no doubt played on Javert's lips at the menacing way it made his voice sound. He quickened his pace further, but he could hear the man behind him speeding up to match— nay, to overtake— him.

Once out of the alley, he turned the opposite direction from where Cosette had gone and hurried through the near-empty streets, trying to lead Javert as far away as possible from the home he and Cosette had only just begun to truly make their own.

"Stop!" Javert called as he gave chase. "Halt! In the name of the law!"

Since when does a criminal stop for the law? The thought made Valjean chuckle as he continued to lead Javert away.

"I said halt! Stop him! That man is a criminal!" Javert shouted as Valjean passed a pair of vagrants on a street corner. Much to his surprise, they seemed eager to help the inspector. Both of them leapt to their feet and tried to grab Valjean.

He faltered and nearly fell, but managed to slip past them. Having to slow down to avoid them, however, gave Javert just the moment he needed to lunge forward and seize him by the arm. Valjean fought against him, but it seemed the harder he struggled against Javert's grip, the tighter his grip became. "No!"

"You cannot escape me this time, 24601," Javert hissed, dragging Valjean closer to him. Valjean had not expected the inspector to be quite so strong. He was treating the former prisoner like a rag doll. His hands were quickly shackled together and he was dragged back along the way from which they'd come. "Justice will be served at long last."

"Please, Javert, you know not what you do. I've a daughter at home, if you bring me back to prison she will surely perish without me!" Valjean begged as he struggled to get away. Try as he might, he couldn't get away. "I've changed! I am no longer the man you released from prison so many years ago! Please, let me prove it to you!"

"Once a thief, always a thief," snarled Javert upon hearing the other man's words. "No woman would have you, Valjean. Whose child have you stolen? You will lead me to your home that I may liberate this child!"

"What?! No- Javert, please—" Crack! Something hard and heavy hit the back of Valjean's skull and he sank to his knees. "Unh—"

"You will be silent," Javert replied. "And you will do as you are told." Crack!

Valjean's vision was streaked with red and tiny stars danced on the periphery as he was forced back to his feet. "Now, do as I said."

Valjean shook his head. "I cannot allow her to see me this way."

Crack! He let out a pained cry and his knees threatened to buckle beneath his weight.

"I will give you one last chance, Valjean. You are trying my patie—"

"Papa?!" A shrill, horrified cry cut Javert off as a young girl ran toward them. "What are you doing to him? My father's done nothing wrong! Let him go!"

"Cosette, no!" Valjean cried. "Go home! You were to do as I—" Crack!

The horrified expression on his daughter's face was burned into his mind as the world faded to black before Valjean's eyes. "Papa!"


	2. Chapter 2

Valjean came to as he was being forcefully dragged along through the streets, to the sound of Cosette begging and pleading with the man who was dragging him along. His head felt as though it was full of fog, his limbs as though they were full of sand.

"Monsieur le inspecteur, _please!_ I know my father, he's a good man! You've got the wrong person! I beg of you, let him go!" Cosette cried, following only a few steps behind Javert as he dragged Valjean along. "Please!"

"This man is a thief and a liar," came Javert's reply as he continued to drag the other man along. Next time, he vowed to bring men with him to carry out the grunt work. "And he will be brought to justice."

"You've got the wrong man, monsieur! Please, listen to me!" Cosette begged. "Please!" As Valjean's vision throbbed back into existence, he could see the fear and worry on his daughter's face as her gaze went from his face to the back of Javert's head. "You're hurting him!"

Javert stopped short then, dropping Valjean quite suddenly as he turned around to face the young girl. "His pain is no one's fault but his own. You ought run along back to your mother now. This man you call your father is a criminal and he _will_ be punished. Justice will prevail."

Valjean grunted painfully as he hit the ground with a sickening thud. He couldn't be certain, but from the pain he felt in his chest he thought for sure he'd broken something in the fall.

"I haven't got a mother, monsieur!" Cosette said plainly. "My mother resides in heaven now. All I've got is my father. You can't take him away from me. Please, I'll do anything you ask, monsieur le inspecteur, he's everything I have!"

As Valjean lay there on the ground, blinking and coughing through the pain, he saw Javert raise his hand as if he meant to slap Cosette. For the second time that day, Valjean saw red, although this time it wasn't from pain.

Thinking as quickly as he could, he took a deep breath and rolled onto his side, kicking out clumsily to strike Javert in the legs. He prayed that the kick would carry enough force to knock Javert over. He prayed that he wouldn't fall on Cosette.

When Valjean's shin collided with the back of Javert's legs, he wobbled before falling backward and landing with a thud punctuated by a sharp crack. Cosette was on her knees beside her father within seconds, trying to check him for injury. Her eyes were red and puffy and her face was wet with her tears. _Foolish child,_ Valjean thought, leaning his cheek into her touch. _If you'd only done as I'd asked…_

"Help me up, quickly," he whispered to her, glancing over at Javert, who didn't seem to be moving. Was he even breathing? "We've got to get out of here."

Cosette did her best to help him up, but as he reached his feet he realized that they were going to run into a problem. He wouldn't be able to get the shackles off without the key or a kind blacksmith who wouldn't ask questions. Glancing down at Javert's unconscious form, he tried to decide if it was worth it to ask his daughter to search his pockets for the key. He still wasn't moving. One of his arms looked rather painfully pinned between the man's back and the ground, and there was a small pool of blood beginning to spread beneath his head.

 _What have I done?_

 _He would've taken me away from Cosette. He was going to hurt her. I did what I had to do._

 _But what if I've killed him?_

 ** _What have I done?_**

"Cosette," he said, pulling the girl's attention away from the unconscious man in the street momentarily. She stared up at him, eyes wide and full of fear. She looked so small, so terribly young in that moment. "I need you to do something for me, ma joie. He must have the key to these shackles in one of his pockets. I won't get very far without arousing suspicion unless we can get these off."

"I'll find the key, Papa." Cosette nodded to punctuate her statement before turning to the unconscious man with a grimace. Valjean was again reminded of how thankful he was to have Cosette in his life as she hesitantly knelt beside Javert, digging shaking fingers into the pockets of his coat.

She found the key in an inside pocket of his coat and hurried to help her father remove the shackles that bound him. Once he was freed, she expected that he would take her into his arms and hurry away, but Valjean had other ideas.

Once his arms were freed, Valean knelt beside Javert and checked to make sure that he was still breathing. His breath was weak and ragged, but he _was_ still breathing. Valjean removed his own coat before ripping one of the sleeves off of his shirt. He had to stop the bleeding or what he was about to attempt next would be for naught.

"Papa, what are you doing?" Cosette asked as he ripped the sleeve into strips of makeshift bandages and carefully wrapped them around the prone man's head. He was shocked by how hot the other man's skin was. _No_ , he thought. _The wound can't already be infected._

"Papa!" Cosette cried, sounding far more insistent this time. He glanced up at her for long enough to shoot her a stern look before turning his attention back to Javert. "What are you doing? He was trying to arrest you! We have to go!"

"I cannot allow this man to die here in the street because of my actions, Cosette. We must help him." His voice was calm and very matter-of-fact, but deep inside Valjean wanted to agree with her. He wanted to run. Javert's fate didn't concern him. Shouldn't concern him.

Still, once he had the makeshift bandage wrapped securely around the other man's head, he slowly went about picking him up.

"You can't bring him with us, Papa! He'll just arrest you again!"

"When he wakes up, I will attempt to reason with him. Until then, we shall bring him home with us and care for him." _I will not be responsible for Javert's death. I refuse to be the criminal he sees me to be._


End file.
